Sky of Dust: The Last Weapon (7 page)

“
Sure
,
”
I replied.

“
Why didn't you ever talk to me? I mean
,
every time we got close
,
you would look at me like I did something wrong
,
”
s
he said with a small tinge of hurt in her voice.

“
I
—
Uhh
—
well
,
you see
,
my mom told me that I shouldn't hang out with girls, that they caused trouble
,
”
I lied.

My inner voices started having a shouting match in my head.

“
YOUR MOM TOLD YOU???”

“
Well
,
I couldn't sa
y
I like her and always feel like
throwing up around her!
”

“
BUT YOUR MOM
?
”

“
Maybe she will ignore what I said.
”

“
You could not think of any other excuse?
”

“
Could you?
”

“
I am you, so no. But it was still stupid.
”

“
I know.
”

Both voices sighed.

“
Uhh-Oh she looks mad! Hide!
”

Abigail's face got red.

“
Well
,
I was suppose
d
to keep an eye out for
you and to make sure
you
didn’
t do anything stupid. It is the boys who cause trouble.
”
Abigail fumed and stormed ahead.

'So much for our bonding moment
,
slick
,
'
m
y inner voice told me.

Once we reached the tree
at
the fork in the road, we knew something was wrong.
First off
,
Mary and Donald were not there. She left before us
,
and she, hopefully, did not get into fights like we did. Secondly, t
here were tire tracks in the mud
,
like a vehicle was driving round the barriers that lead to Mary’s house.

Casey turned and looked at us.

His face was red and in pain. He had been carrying Peter so far. I imagine this was a way he thought he could prove himself since he really
didn’t have a
“
special
”
ability like the rest of us
.

“
Do you see the tire tracks?
”
Casey said.
“
They are heading towards Mary’s. Do you think they know about her?
”

“
I hope not
,
”
Abigail replied.
“
Take Peter and hide in the bushes across the street from her house. It would probably be better if you stay off the road. If they catch you
,
then there is no way you can fight back with him out of commission.
”

Casey looked
like he did not like the idea of splitting up
,
but I guess he was too tired to argue. He nodded and disappeared in
to
the woods behind the large tree.

“
So what do we do?
”
I asked
.

“
I will figure something out when we get a better
sense
of the situation. I just did not want to worry about them
,
”
s
he replied.

I know it sounds cheesy, but I was excited that she thought I was useful.

“
Don’t do anything stupid
,
and listen to me
,
”
s
he said sharply.
“
I will probably use you as a decoy or something.
”

Never mind
. It’s like she knew what I was thinking and cut me down. Girls.

I opened my arms and said,
“
No problem.
”

We continued towards Mary’s house by hugging the tree line. I was pretty sure I blended in well with the brush, but Abigail stuck out like a sore thumb.

We walked in silence until we could see Mary’s house. There was a dirty black SUV
and an armored vehicle parked in front of the house.

“
Stay low and stay quiet
,
”
Abigail whispered.

She crouched and started to lead the way towards Mary’s house.

“
There.
”
She pointed towards an old rusty truck with no wheels about fifty feet from the other vehicles.
“
We can hide behind that to get a better view.
”

Without hesitation
,
she followed the old wood
en
fence around until we were positioned just behind the truck. We heard talking on the other side of the truck.

“
We have to go under
,
”
s
he whispered.

She touched the side of her watch
,
then
grabbed the bottom of the fence and lifted
it
gently
,
giving
us
about a foot or so of clearance.

“
Go first
,
”
s
he said.

I laid
stomach first and looked under
the fence
. I could not see anything except the old truck and the side of the house.

“
Hurry!
”
she whispered through her teeth.

I began to slide under
,
and
,
when I was almost through
,
my foot hit Abigail’s watch. The fence dropped and pinned my feet. Luckily
,
she recovered fast
,
and I just ended up with bruises.

“
Can you hold it?
”
she whispered through the fence.

“
Let me try
,
”
I replied back.

I knelt down and gripped the base of the fence
, lifting it
with all my strength. Abigail slowly put the weight into my hands. The wood cut into my skin
,
and my hands felt like fire. My back and chest began to ache.

I was about to drop it when
she
popped from under the fence face up.

She made a face.
“
Not a good view.
”

I ignored her.
I felt my grip slipping
. My head started to ache under the stress. The pain seemed to dull
,
yet I could feel every muscle in my body yell. It seemed like minutes before she passed between my legs.

She stood up
,
grabbed the fence
,
and lowered it.

We snuck over to the truck and knelt behind it.

We made our way towards the back of the truck
,
so we were facing towards the house.

Donald was on his knees facing the vehicles. His face was bloody
,
and he was being held by two G
uards.

An older man, probably in his
mid fifties
,
was looking down at him. He wore a black suite
and
a white scarf. He
had a long black trench coat that almost touched the ground. He looked remarkably fit considering his age.

“
According to your chip
,
you are wanted for murder
,
”
t
he man said with a voice of authority.
“
I do not care about that. Just tell me where the women who lives here is, and I may let you return to your family.
”

“
I told you, I do not know
,
”
Donald said weakly. He looked up and caught our eye. Then added,
“
Probably to the place she never told me. Someone else might know
—
a girl in town named Abigail.
”

“
Yes, we know of her. She
is
one of the spies
we are hunting
. She should be in custody by now, or dead
,
”
t
he man
said.
“
If you will not tell me what I need to know, then I will have to force it out of you. If you would just tell me what you know, it would be so much better for both of us.
”

The man removed one of his gloves and waited.

Donald looked at the ground and stayed silent.

“
Fine
,
”
t
he man said.
“
I prefer not doing this
, but,
in your case
,
I suppose I have too.
”

He took a step forward and placed his bare hand on Donald’s
head
.

Donald screamed in pain. It seemed like the man’s hands were burning into Donald’s head.

The man took a
step back in a weak stumble. A G
uard started towards him
,
but the man just waved him away.

“
I am fine. I have him
,
”
h
e stated.
“
You can let him go.
”

Donald looked straight ahead with a blank look on his face.

The man put his glove on and said,
“
Now tell me where she is going.
”

“
She is returning to the
W
est
,
”
Donald replied. He seemed to be in some sort of trance.

“
How?
”
t
he man pressed.

“
They will be evacuated about a day’s travel from here
,
”
Donald
said plainly.

“
Where exactly is this evacuation point at? And who are ‘They’ you spoke of? Who is she evacuating?
”
t
he man continued.

“
I do not know where the evacuation point is. She never told me. She is recovering Dalyn Caddarick. Joining them are Casey Lowes, Peter Patrick, Abigail, and myself
,
”
Donald responded.

The man took out a tablet and began to tap the screen.

“
I see. Dalyn Cadd
arick, son of
Bret Caddarick.
”
He paused.
“
Age fourteen. Lives with mother and three siblings.
Identified as infected with CC1586 virus. Abilities
u
nknown
…a
s well as the rest of his family I see.
”

He tapped on the screen again.

“
Casey Lowes. Identified as un-infected. Father
deceased
. Mother and younger sibling identified as infected
,
”
h
e stated and tapped on the screen.
“
Peter Patrick. F
ather and
a
brothe
r and sister
in Honor G
uards
. Lives with mother and two younger siblings. All infected. Abilities unknown.
”

He lowered his tablet and tucked it in his trench coat.

“
And Abigail’s information is fake, just like Curtiss’s. Suspected to be infected.
Spies
,
”
h
e concluded.

He waved the G
uards
away
,
and they got in the armored vehicle and waited.

The man knelt down and said,
“
Hold your breath until I tell you to stop.
”

Donald tightened
his
lips and did what was asked.
His face turned red then blue.

I started to move forward
,
but Abigail grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“
We
have
got to help him or he is going to die!
”
I said in a hushed voice.

Her face was red, tears streaming down her face. Her face twisted into fear like she was revisiting an old nightmare.

“
He…he will kill us. He is too strong
,
”
s
he stammered.

“
But, he…
”
I started.

“
Please. Please stay. Don’t go. Please
,
”
s
he cried
, h
er face now buried into my arm.

We heard a thump, then the
footsteps of the man in the trench coat make his way over to his vehicle.

"Let's move out," he ordered.

He got into the passenger side of the black
SUV
and slammed the door
.

Both vehicles started and began to turn towards the town.

“
Come on
,
”
I urged Abigail.
“
We need to get out of their
sight
when they come around.
”

We crouched and waddled over to the front of the old truck.

We could see Donald lying on the
ground;
h
is eyes bulged out of their sockets.

Once we could not hear the engines of the vehicles anymore
,
we ran over to Donald
,
and
I
rolled him over.